Forever
by LadyS.Stark
Summary: The Parting of Ways as I think it should have ended. This is an AU Nine/Rose oneshot, so... enjoy if you can.


Alone. So alone. That was how the Doctor had been since the Time War, haunted by his actions. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Gallifrey burning amidst the ruins of the smouldering ships, the dying screams of fellow soldiers from both sides echoing in his ears. He knew there was no one left because his head was quiet as a tomb, when before it had been a hive of activity. His family, his people, and his planet were all gone... and there was nothing he could do about it. At times however, he heard the faintest of sounds in his mind, like the soft caress of a rose petal, and then it would be gone when he would try to focus on it.

It wasn't until he met Rose Tyler that he heard the sound strongly, though why he heard it could never be explained. Her brown eyes were always wide with wonder, no matter what he showed her, and she wasn't afraid to ask questions or tell him off when he was wrong. Yes, she could be a very stupid ape, but she was his stupid ape. He didn't dare tell her that she was his light in the darkness, for he was afraid to lose her as he'd lost everyone else in his life. He hid this fear beneath his goofy grin, galavanting around the galaxy with her at his side like nothing was wrong, although he expected every adventure to be his last.

And then it happened at Satelite 5; he knew there was no way out and he wanted his Rose safe. The moment the TARDIS vanished with her locked inside, her protesting sobs as she banged against the doors mixed in with every other bad memory he'd ever had and it brought him to his knees. His hearts constricted painfully, tears sliding down his cheeks as he gasped for air. "I had to." He choked out, seeing Rose's betrayed expression as clear as day in his mind, though she'd not been physically visible to him. "I love you." His hearts wrenched in his chest as he admitted his feelings aloud for the first time. Up till now he had denied anything that wasn't platonic between the two of them, and now it was too late. He would die here, but he would take out every one of his enemies in doing so.

_Focus._ He told himself as the darkness threatened to crush him with it's overwhelmingness, feeling like the weight of the world, which he had known even before speaking to Atlas for a short while before the Titan had been turned to stone by Perseus out of pity. Grabbing his tools, he went to work on the cables and wires feverishly, as there was too little time in which to do what he needed to. It was an ironic ending for a timelord who had been running for so long, but so were all maximum opuses of life.

"Have. you. made. a. decision, Doc-tor?"

He looked up at the screen which displayed the Dalek Emperor, his expression grim. "You will remember why you call me the Oncoming Storm."

"You. have. chosen. badly. We. will. exterminate. every. last. one. of. you."

"Not before I exterminate every last one of you." He said with a deadly calm that had made countless armies turn roung and run the other way. But not this time, this time there would be no running, and the only one who would live would be his Rose.

"You. are. lying."

A sound filled the room that the Doctor never thought he'd hear again, the TARDIS reappearing._ No, it can't be._ He thought, then both doors opened and Rose stepped out, glowing as brightly as a solar flare from head to toe. He fell backwards on to the floor, hand moving up instinctively to shield his eyes. "No!" He choked out, his voice unable to do anything above a harsh whisper, though he was screaming in his mind at seeing the woman he loved had looked into time. Even at the height of the timelords, that had been banned because it was too dangerous, but for a human it was outright deadly.

With a wave of her hand, the Daleks vanished from existence, Jack was revived, and then she stopped glowing. She swayed on her feet in an unsteady fashion, but the Doctor was there in a flash, catching her in his arms. "My Doctor." She said so softly he almost didn't hear her.

He smiled. "My Rose." He held her close against him, the steady beat of her heart music to his ears. "You let go... how did you know to do that?"

"I 'ad a dream where I didn't an' your appearance... changed. After tha', it was like I 'ardly knew you. I couldn't stand the thought of tha' 'appenin' to you."

"You dreamed of me regenerationg... and you were able to stop it from happening." He could hardly believe it, though the evidence was right there in front of him.

Rose nodded, looking dazed. "Is tha' bad?"

He stared down at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "No, Rose. You are showing aspects of a timelord."

"Bu'... I'm human."

He grinned, pulling her up as if to kiss her forehead, but his lips met hers instead for the briefest, most wonderful of kisses she'd ever had. "Not any more. Looking through time and letting it go is changing you, Rose. You've rewritten history just like a timelord all by yourself. And there were some among my people that could dream of futures that could be prevented, which you seem to have also aquired in the process."

Rose shivered in his arms. "That's scary."

"I know, but I'm right here with you every step of the way."

She smiled that beautiful smile he loved so much, tiptoeing and kissing him quite thoroughly, her hands running over his very short hair. _I love you._ She thought as strongly as she could towards him. He must have heard her, because tears were sliding down his cheeks as he pulled her flush against him.

_And I love you, Rose Tyler._ He thought in reply, his conscience so close to hers that the two began to twine together. _Forever._ He felt her tears mingle with his as all the barriers between them disappeared, leaving them entirely exposed to each other, and yet neither of them was afraid of being hurt. They had been made for each other, brought together by fate, and nothing could keep them apart ever again. The darkness in his life was gone forever and the stars sang as they started a new life together, two travelers with the entire galaxy at their fingertips, and the TARDIS as their hime. Children would come to bless their lives, and millions of people would be all the safer and none the wiser because of every single one of them.

_Fin._


End file.
